Saturday, September 21, 2013

And While We're At It, The Central Tenet of Buddhism

Is not "Every Man For Himself".

Like so many other Conservative Christopaths, Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) finds his Wingnut Conservatism so much easier to reconcile with his Fake Christianity if he just zips right on past all of Christ's many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many teachings about the poor and the sick and the outcasts to find some fragment of scripture on which to hang his seething, UnChristian contempt for the poor and the sick and the outcast:

For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.

The North Decoder article in which Rep. Kevin Cramer's (R-ND) remarks appear goes on to quite correctly point out that, not only are Rep. Kevin Cramer's (R-ND) assertions contemptible, but like so many other Conservative Christopaths, he also (surprise!) gets his basic facts wrong:

Kramer assumes everybody who receives SNAP assistance is lazy. Because, of course, the Christian thing to do is to assume that everyone who isn't working isn't willing to work. And we should hate those people and let them "not eat." Let's just forget all that crap the Bible says about helping poor people. Why not?!? He forgets that many who receive SNAP assistance work. Many work full-time. Many work multiple jobs. It's not that they're lazy, Kevin; it's that our economy needs a lot of working poor people. WalMart needs a lot of working poor. Kevin's owner -- the Man Who Bought North Dakota -- needs a lot of working poor people. How would the Walton family make so much money if they weren't able to pay so many people so little?!?

Perhaps the problem is that, like so many other Conservative Christopaths, Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) doesn't trouble his righteous mind reading labor market statistics or income inequality and wage stagnation studies or history or science but instead stays exclusively focused on what The Bible has to say about stuff.

If only The Bible had something pertinent to say about valuing labor and paying workers a living wage, I'm sure that would turn Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) right around...

If only...

Oh.

Wait.

My Harvard-Divinity-School-grad wife just handed me a scrap of paper. From some guy named "Tim":

"For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward."

So I guess never mind about Conservative Christopaths like Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) being capable of extending their compassion one inch past the default settings of their tiny, hateful hearts based on the only book they apparently ever read. Which is why, as a tactic, appealing to their better natures is pretty much always doomed to fail.

Instead, since yappy Conservative Christopaths like Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) constantly lead with their massive, ideological glass jaws, what this situation really calls for is someone with a big enough fist to punch them right through the ropes.

Over and over and over again.

Until they stop moving.

Like this:

Of maybe, just maybe, the right strategy is to let even moreConservative Christopaths like Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) win even more elections! Because then something something Libertarian Utopia!

At least that's what the Greatest Journalist In The World believes, and who am I to dispute his transcendent political wisdom?

I read on another blog that said there was another well-known figure that quoted the statement from Thessalonians about those unwilling to work not eating...Stalin. It was in what is called Stalin's Manifesto from the mid-1930s.

I don't think Mr. Cramer's attitude towards the poor is so much the Bible as it is Dune...

BARON: Rabban, Rabban...I place you in charge of Arrakis. It's yours to squeeze, as I promised. I want you to squeeze and squeeze and squeeze. Give me spice! Drive them into utter submission. You must not show the slightest pity or mercy...as only you can... Never stop! Go....Show no mercy!

Somewhat OT but I think there is some relevance - my local propatainment bots are featuring a story about how local Catholics are responding to Pope Francis' comments regarding the Church focusing too much on abortion and homosexuality at the expense of social issues. Surprise surprise! Some local Catholics find these remarks "controversial". Film at 11.

The problem is not what the Bible says, but what they can tell people that the Bible says.

As I've said, the main toxicity of fundamentalism is cultivating the idea that the basic epistemology of reality is faith-based. If you know or declare something in the name of [insert deity or book here], it must be true. This is how the con men maintain control of the flock. It has also run rampant, and now they buy their own bullshit. They think that they can simply declare that anything is in the Bible, and people cannot question it. This is why any rancid pile of depraved ideology can be made sacrosanct by taping a few Bible verses (real or not) to it and gluing a Plastic Jesus to the dashboard.

It also reminds me of people who make up Bible verses on Twitter just to see how far they get re-tweeted.